On This Day in History: March 18

On March 18, Britain was forced to repeal an act that angered Americans. Here are the events and famous birthdays from this day in history.

1766: Stamp Act Repealed

After less than a year since Parliament approved it, the Stamp Act was repealed. It had only been in action for four months, but had received country-wide criticism. The act meant that everyone had to buy a British stamp, which would have the Tudor rose on it, for all official documents obtained. The money would raise revenues for the British army in the colonies. Benjamin Franklin appealed to the British Government to repeal the act after months of protests. That same day, the Government passed the Declaratory Act, another controversial bill.

1911: Biggest Pop Song of the Time Copyrighted

On this day in history, the biggest pop song of the 20th century was copyrighted. Irving Berlin gained the rights to “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” which had helped America gained economical and culture gains around the world. One thing that helped make this song extraordinary was that amateur piano players would be able to master it quickly, because it was a simplistic tune. Berlin would go on to create some of America’s biggest tunes still used today, including “God Bless America” and “White Christmas.”

1913: Assassination of King George I of Greece

At the time of Queen Victoria’s death, King George I of Greece was the second longest-reigning monarch in Europe. On this day in history, he was killed by an assassin, Alexandros Schinas, because he had refused to give the man money (according to the assassin). Schinas was sent to prison and tortured while there. He fell to his death after six weeks in prison. The king died instantly, the bullet from the gun used has hit his heart.

1937: Texan Schoolchildren Killed in Natural Gas Explosion

Almost 300 children were killed in history today after a natural gas explosion in their school, the Consolidated School of New London, Texas. It was located in the middle of a natural gas field, with 11 of the oil derricks within the school grounds. The school officials had been encouraged to use the wet-gas lines, which were known to be less stable. People 40 miles from the school felt the blast, which happened 10 minutes before the final bell of the school day. Nobody ever found the exact reason for the explosion, and static electricity has often been blamed. It did lead to the burning of wet gas after this.

Famous Birthdays on March 18

Duke John Holland of Exeter–1395

Mary Tudor, Queen of France — 1496

Massachusetts Bay colonist, Simon Bradstreet–1603

King Frederick III of Norway and Denmark–1609

Vice President of the United States, John C. Calhoun–1782

U.S. President Stephen Grover Cleveland—1837

French poet Stephane Mallarme—1842

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin—1869

WWI poet Wilfred Owen—1893

President of the Republic of South America Frederik W. deKlerk—1936

Queen Latifah—1970

Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine—1979

One Tree Hill actress Danneel Ackles—1979

Dance Mums star Tayluer Amos—2001

Sources:

Birthdays from FamousBirthdays.com, OnThisDay.com and HistoryNet.com

Featured image from Deposit Photos

Image of George I of Greece in the public domain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_I_of_Greece#/media/File:King_George_of_Hellenes.jpg

About The Author

Alexandria Ingham is a fulltime writer originally from the UK and now living in Canada. She is also a former Weight Watchers leader and has an avid interest in health and fitness because of this. In 2010, she started writing online and broke into journalism in 2013. While entertainment and weight loss news are her favorites, she also enjoys covering some sport and technology news. She is the United Kingdom, Diet and Fitness, Rugby, and Entertainment beat writer for Daily Voice News.